LISBON — No May primary election will be held in Columbiana County in 2021.

Kim Fusco, director of the Board of Elections, announced during the board’s Friday meeting that all of the certified candidates will be placed directly on the general election ballot in November.

The primary was already set to be minimal as very few issues were submitted for certification. The decision came after Unity Township wrote to the board to withdraw the renewal levies for the fire department and road department and stated they will be submitting the issues once again to be on the November general election ballot.

All 14 partisan candidates that filed for candidacy were found to be valid and will appear on the November ballot. The board decided to wait to validate the petition filed by an independent candidate until after the May 3 filing deadline for independent candidates.

The only filed local option was for a liquor option in Salem precinct 2-A, that after being deemed valid will now appear on the November ballot. The Suburban Market in Salem successfully gathered 183 valid signatures –20 more than the minimum — on the petition that was circulated.

In other business, the board voted to approve the new voting equipment purchase and contract with Election Systems and Software LLC. The board received $1,018,717 from the state to put towards the purchase of new equipment and decided to continue its service with Election Systems and Software LLC, a company it has worked with since 2004.

ExpressVote machines will be replacing the old machines throughout the county and should be in place by the November election. New machines brought concern to some local voters according to board chairman David Johnson.

“I think that we have taken every precaution and given every consideration to the security of the votes and the decision that we made with ESS,” Johnson said. Johnson noted that the new machines cannot be connected to the internet and have security safe-guards in place to reject foreign flashdrives and cameras will be monitoring all activity in regards to the machines.

In other business, board deputy director Bryce Miner was appointed by the Ohio Association of Election Officials to be a trustee on the legislative committee.

“He’s very familiar with the legislative part of it and he’s going to put a face to our name in Columbiana County,” Fusco said.

Miner said the legislative committee reads and analyzes all legislative bills that are introduced in the general assembly and forms an opinion that they give to the association trustees, and he’s looking forward to serving in that role and making sure that Columbiana County has representation in Columbus.